


Redemption

by gabiroba



Series: Drabbling in a Playlist Challenge [6]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Childhood, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-05-03
Packaged: 2018-01-21 17:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1558214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabiroba/pseuds/gabiroba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grant wasn't always so self controlled. It took someone showing him the way. **Written before the reveal in S01E17- Turn,Turn,Turn** Based on the song "Homeboy" by Eric Church.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Redemption

__  
You were too bad for a little square town  
with your hip-hop hat and your pants on the ground  
Heard you cussed out mamma, pushed daddy around  
You tore off in his car  
Now here you are runnin' these dirty old streets  
Tattoo on your neck, fake gold on your teeth  
Got the hood here snow, but you can't fool me, 

_We both know who you are  
_

Back in the day, before S.H.I.E.L.D. had recruited him, and a long time before he had gotten his life in order, Grant Ward had been a small town bad boy. He saw the inside of a cell more times than he felt comfortable remembering. He knew how easy it was for someone to turn to a life outside of the system, and he knew he owed his life to the only man who stuck his neck out for him to pull him back.

Gene had been a friend of his family since before Grant could remember. He had always treated Grant well and been a friend to him when things got tough at home. He had also been the only one who had gone out of his way to pull Grant out of all the messes he managed to get himself into. Without his help, Grant Ward would surely have died long before he'd had the opportunity to prove himself and straighten out his life.

Lately, with the newest addition to their S.H.I.E.L.D. family, their lovably annoying hacker, Grant had been thinking a lot about his almost uncle. He remembered how low he had gotten, the crowd he had started to run with that was less than savory, the pain he had started to cause his family and friends.

Back then, he hadn't cared about anything and anyone. He had thought himself pretty cool and much better than his surroundings. Teenagers can make a mess aout of pretty much any situation, and Grant had been a genius when it came to making a mess.

By the time he was 17 he had gotten some money together and moved out of his parents' home, thinking they were just trying to stifle him by setting curfews and asking about his coming and going. How wrong he had been. He would take back what he had done to them in a heartbeat.

He could still vividly recall the day he had walked out. He could see in his mind's eye the pain in his mother's eyes and the anger in his father's face. He had physically pushed his way out of the house and even taken his father's car. How self-righteous he had been, thinking he deserved something without never really earning the right.

Homeboy, you're gonna wish one day you were sittin' on the gate of a truck by the lake  
with your high school flame on one side, ice cold beer on the other  
Ain't no shame in a blue collar forty, little house, little kids, little small town story  
If you don't ever do anything else for me, just do this for me brother,

Come on homeboy

Today he knew how wrong he had been. He had apologized to his parents profusely and still made it home as much as possible, but he knew he had hurt them by his actions that day.

Nowadays, he almost wished for the calmer life back on the farm. Sure, he couldn't picture himself staying long. He had felt the rush of adrenalin while on a mission and he wasn't soon willing to give it up. He still didn't understand how May had managed to stay away for so long. No, he couldn't picture himself staying out in the country for very long, but he did wistfully consider taking a few longer vacations there, sitting on the porch, or going out to the fields or the lake, and just spending the afternoons staring out at those mystical sunsets.

It had all been thanks to Gene, the man who had made him clean up his act and become a man. Even dreaming of that life wouldn't have been possible if the stubborn mule hadn't dragged him kicking and screaming away from his so-called friends. How he had ever thought that a bunch of idiots sitting around shooting at birds and running scams on the town was a great group to call friends he would never understand.

__  
I was haulin' this hay, Uncle Joe's farm  
Thought of us bare foot kids in the yard  
Man it seems we were just catchin' snakes in the barn  
now you're caught up in this mess  
I can use a little help unloadin' these bales  
I can keep ya pretty busy with a hammer and a nail  
Ain't a glamorous life, but it'll keep ya outta jail  
and not worry us all to death 

_Homeboy you're gonna wish one day you were sittin' on the gate of a truck by the lake_  
with your high school flame on one side, ice cold beer on the other  
Ain't no shame in a blue collar forty, little house, little kids, little small town story  
If you don't ever do anything else for me just do this for me brother, 

_Come on homeboy  
_

Gene had come to the barn they used back then and at first pleaded with him to come out to his farm. The man had been persistent, every day he would show up and try to convince Grant to come with him. The problem was that adolescent Grant had been just as persistent in his arrogance and bullheadedness to refuse.

After this back and forth had gone on for a month, Gene had had enough of it. He showed up to the barn with one of his hunting rifles and shot a hole clear through the side of the barn. He'd pulled Grant up by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to his truck. When the other guys had tried to fight him for the hole to in their hangout, Gene had simply made another one and warned them not to come looking for their friend because he'd have the sheriff after them.

Once they had gotten to the farm, Gene had set Grant down and laid down the law. Grant had never been so scared in his life. His second day there he had tried to sneak off in the middle of the night but had been caught. Every day he was made to work out in the fields, under the watchful eye of either Gene or one of the farm hands, he had managed to pick a fight about something. Eventually, the heavy workload broke him down and he stopped trying to battle everyone around him.

You can't hold back the hands of time  
Mamma's goin' grey and so is Daddy's mind  
I wish you'd come on back and make it alright  
before they're called... homeboy

His parents were not young, in fact he had been a surprise to them later in their marriage, at a time when they no longer believed they would have a child. His fighting with them had never been easy for them and they had taken it very hard when he had left home. His father's health had started to decline and his mother couldn't take care of their home with as much ease as before.

It had taken him almost a year, but he went back home to make amends with his folks and set things straight. He had apologized for all the pain he had caused them, and they had welcomed him home with wide open arms.

Soon after that, he had gotten to act heroically when there was a problem at the high school. S.H.I.E.L.D. had gotten wind of it and he was recruited. He had never been able to thank Gene for pulling him out of the pit his had thrown himself in, but maybe it was time he did just that.

__  
Homeboy  
Come on homeboy  
Homeboy  
Come on homeboy  



End file.
